1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to enclosures for equipment and personnel, particularly modular, self-contained enclosures suitable for use on a ship.
2. Description of the Related Art
The superstructure of a ship, i.e., the structure located above the ship's deck, typically includes a number of enclosed spaces which serve specific functions. On a military vessel, separate compartments might be dedicated to sonar, fire control, and command and decision functions, for example. Such spaces can include a significant amount of electronic equipment and may be continuously manned.
Historically, such spaces, referred to herein as "combat centers", are formed as an integral part of the ship's structure. Equipment is fastened to the metal walls and flooring of a dedicated compartment which is hard-mounted to the deck and other structural members. This arrangement has a number of drawbacks. For example, being hard-mounted to the ship's structure exposes the combat centers and their respective equipment to any impact shocks to the ship. This is typically accommodated by requiring that each piece of equipment and/or equipment console be independently shock-mounted, adding considerable cost to the equipment and preventing the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment which is generally not ruggedized to military standards. To install a large piece of equipment or to reconfigure a combat center typically requires that one or more wall sections be cut out and subsequently rewelded. Installation of new equipment typically requires a very inefficient and redundant procedure to be followed, in which the equipment is first set up and fully tested at a manufacturer's facility onshore, broken down and transported to the ship, then installed, set up, and fully tested again aboard ship. Furthermore, when equipment is hard-mounted to the structure of the ship, the entire ship must be taken in for repairs when a portion of the superstructure is damaged in battle, even if only one or two functions are affected.